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Gender Initiatives breakfast sheds light on 40% pension gap

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25 Sep 2017

Gender Initiatives Task Force

The pay gap between women and men is currently at 16% on average in the EU. Meanwhile, the pension gap is much wider at a considerable 40%.

In this edition of its Gender Initiatives breakfast series, AmCham EU held a discussion centred on the causes and ways to narrow the gap with representatives from the European Commission and the business community.

While some causes of the pay and pension gap are clear-cut, for example women on average spending less time in the workforce, less obvious factors play a role. For instance, with an ageing population, more women are serving as caretakers for elderly parents. Unlike childcare, this responsibility often is not given flexibility by employers, leading to a dropout of women from the workforce and in turn lowering their pension contributions.

The EU and national governments can play an important role toward reducing this inequality. Nevertheless, the speakers agreed that employers are uniquely placed to help narrow the gap, through education and effective communication to their employees about pay and pension issues.